Food, wine, travel

RECIPE: Chicken, chickpea and sweet potato stew

Morocco is a country firmly on my travel wish list.

For me the exotic north African country conjures up visions of bustling marketplaces brimming with spices and intriguing ingredients, bursting with colour in the heat of the desert, yet surrounded by pockets of lush gardens. Add the promise of spicy lamb tagines, bocodillos and an endless spectrum of spices and I’m half packed and on my way.

Moroccan chicken, chickpea and sweet potato stew is a dish with countless revisions, adaptations and variations floating around the internet, many featuring a necessarily long list of spices in keeping with traditional Moroccan cooking. While doing so is clearly more authentic, I chose to strip my version down to the basics (navigating past a certain lack of stock cupboard ingredients) taking paprika and garlic as my base and adding to it spinach, mushrooms, chicken, sweet potatoes and chickpeas.

Inspired by the flavours of Morocco this simple and delicious stew can be whipped up any day of the week.

Chicken, chickpea and sweet potato stew

CHICKEN, CHICKPEA AND SWEET POTATO STEW

(Served 2)

Two chicken breasts

Two large sweet potatoes

Tin of chickpeas

Few handfuls of fresh spinach

Tinned tomatoes

Mushrooms

Paprika

Two large garlic cloves

Chilli flakes

1. Chop the chicken into chunks and fry in a little garlic and olive oil.

2. Peel and sweets potatoes and dice into half-inch cubes. Heat in the microwave on full power for two minutes to soften slightly.

3. Add the sweet potatoes to the pan and fry for a further until softened.